"I can see why they kept you on despite failing the tests," he remarked. "So, if I'm supporting the pokémon, I'll naturally need all my defensive materia. Do you recommend any offensive ones? Equipping materia somewhat reduces my own physical performance and endurance so I might be better off just relying on physical attacks unless there's something he has a weakness against, though it sounds like I'm not going to be able to do any worthwhile damage either way. On the other hand, the more materia I have equipped, the stronger my magical performance and endurance, which would be good for the pokémon - if I don't succumb to this guy through being physically weakened. How fast is he? If I've got a good chance of evading his attacks I think I favour the stronger magic option."

"Basically what my plan was, though I was going to use Security force Specialists rather than, no offence, another security risk. It doesn't matter I suppose, you're going to do what you want anyways, and I'm too busy to stop you and I can't spare any manpower to have you detained. If you are going to come you'll need to arrive quickly. I'm taking whatever time I can while he seems to be waiting to evacuate people and data and bring in the Heavy machinery. Once that is done, we are disconnecting the Central station hub from the rest of the Pequod to minimize damage and prevent him from dragging the fight elsewhere. Once it is disconnected, it'll be much more difficult for you to arrive. If you get here I can brief you further." Joe said, closing the communication.

"I think that will do nicely," Pamela said in response to Kepler's plan, with a nod of approval. "Weather alteration likely won't be necessary in Phase 2 — Hail would hurt him, but also our side, and Rain isn't likely to be that effective because only Millie and Tilly can use Thunder; but Phase 3 is ripe for Sunny Day; it will boost both Jeanne and Salamander, but it intensifies most nearby sources of heat and light, so I advise dark glasses and heat- and flame-repellant gear, if you have it. Sally, Hettie, and Cassie do have a good amount of status moves between them. When Phase 3 begins, I shall have Jeanne use Sunny Day almost at once. If possible, I should prefer a Target All/Haste for the third phase, since it uses my slower Pokémon, and that would enable us to do heavier damage, as well as have Jeanne and Millie apply more pressure with Toxic, Will-o-Wisp, and Perish Song. Switching abruptly from Sunny Day to any of the other weathers is also possible, and other weathers might help other spirits."

Joy-Ling of DeviantArt made the Trainer Creator used in making this Avatar: Try it!

"Sure. I can link All and Haste if that's what you think will be the most effective," Aran answered. "But it sounds like we need to start heading over there straight away if Masters intends to detach the Central module. I for one would feel really frustrated if we worked out all these tactics, only to find we couldn't even reach the guy."

"It's true," Kepler admitted, "I tend to do what I want. In this instance you're well within your rights to tell me not to do something and I wouldn't though. I mean let's be fair. I don't do it to spite you or your authority. You just know I know how things should be done. But hey!" Kepler said with genuine enthusiasm. "This scene is starting to drag--CUT TO FIGHT SCENE!"

Dr Walters rolled her eyes. "James, you can't just--"

=-=-=-=-=-=

Lancel looked with bored and mild disdain at some of the scantily clad women in bathing suits in a magazine that had been at the shop. Women away from his homeworld frequently depressed him. None of them had the assets of women like Guineva, all height and curves, and yet they seemed to think that if they flaunted more and more audaciously they might somehow attain it. But as he turned the last page he was pleasantly distracted by a far security door cranking and whirring, pulling open the heavy seals. Lancel smiled slightly and smugly.

"I was beginning to think you were willing to simply hand me this place!" He bellowed out. "What champion have you brought me to kill?"

As the Security Door opened, Microvibrations could be felt in the ground around the park as a large machine walked into the section. The Machine looked not dissimilar to a Tyranosaurus Rex with a pair of cannons on it's back. As it walked into the park, it scanned around for a target.

During the scene pause, Pamela made final considerations for her formation; three Pokémon, each at points roughly equidistant from Lancel, to afflict him with status effects. Hettie would take the further position, and Cassie and Sally the nearer two; Reflect to be applied by Sally before assuming the formation for added defence, which could also be added to Aran. Grasswhistle from Cassie, and then Leech seed; Torment from Sally, and then Toxic; Nightmare from Hettie, and then Confuse Ray. Follow with whatever else is possible, and stack on more status as the magic clears it away. Protect. Double Team. Substitute. If necessary, Endure. Count on Aran for healing. At the end of Phase 2, Sunny Day to augment Salamander and Jeanne; keep Tilly concealed until the last possible moment, and unleash for a surprise when possible. Wear Lancel down, and apply the restraints. "Who is this man, and why has he such fury...? I can't think I might have done something similar, had I only succeeded with Darkrai, or pursued Yveltal, but that has its own dangers.... This situation is no good, but I'm itching for a battle; this will have to do, I suppose... Logic dictates that we flee, but when the logical is not doable, best to be happy with what is, or give one's best try at it..."

Pamela was smiling as she went on her way to the battlefield. She had made peace with her mortality long ago, though she did not like the thought of her Pokémon being harmed, or of them, without her, in the hands of that organisation; if they had wanted them, they could have had them from her already, she supposed, but the trainer they obey must always have some value, especially when compliant.

"I never realised how bleak this scenario really is; I really must complain to Kepler about it and see if he has something strange on the subject to say."

Joy-Ling of DeviantArt made the Trainer Creator used in making this Avatar: Try it!

Xander woke with a start. He found himself unable to tell if he felt the shaking in his head, in the darkened room around him, or in both. Then he panicked. Could that creature be in this room with him? He slowly urged himself upright, groaning with the strain. He hurt all over, and he felt drained in a way that told him they'd reactivated his magical restraints. His panic gave way before long, it was hard to remain terrified when everything came so slowly. His eyes eventually adjusted to the dimness of the room, and he was soon certain that this was too regular a darkness to contain that creature. He was should be safe now. He hoped he was safe now.

He took a moment to breathe, and then took in more of his surroundings. It was a closed room, relatively small, that appeared to be medical in nature. There was machinery, though it was all inactive, and stowed up against the far wall. He saw his clothes, clean and neatly folded though not in a manner he considered acceptable, laid upon a small desk beside his bed, and only now realised that he was wearing some kind of medical gown. He tried not to fret too much over his attire's inevitable creasing at the hands of such mistreatment, given that he was surprised enough to see them in one piece given what he remembered of that last test.. Could he really call that a test? Then came the next realisation, had he failed?

He would find out before long, he figured as he pushed himself carefully from the bed, his body aching in rebellion. He stood for a moment as dizziness overtook him, anchoring himself to the table. After the last wave passed he redressed himself and took stock of his situation. His spellbooks weren't here, they must have taken them. He had failed, he was certain, he had faced a creature designed to devour his very lifeblood, and he had failed. Strange then, that they had bothered to treat him at all. Did they have some other purpose in mind for him, he wondered? And what was that shaking that had woken him, another explosion, perhaps?

Xander stepped over to the door, he needed answers, or at least he wanted them very badly. He cursed as he found it locked, and the door too sturdy for him to shake open in his frailty. Had they forgotten about him then? Had they locked him away in this little room to rot away? He returned to sit at the bed, furious. His cane had been taken from him, his magic and his spellbooks gone as well, and now he was locked in this dark little room, awaiting his judgement, should it ever come for him.

While they travelled to the central module Aran set about equipping his chosen materia. As requested by Pamela he inserted All and Haste into a pair of linked slots. Then he began adding the others. Cure and Barrier would both be vital. With Haste active he'd need to recast barrier rather frequently so having one opportunity to cast it on everyone at once during the battle could be very helpful. He linked it to his second All. Life might also turn out to be vital. It was just a pity that three of the most important materia in this fight, Life, Haste and Barrier, were also the most draining on his own strength and vitality.

Having done what he could for the pokémon he considered his own protection. His bracers should protect him against lightning, water, earth or poison, if Lancel had those in his magic repertoire but he wondered if he should link Fire or Ice with his Elemental in there too. Another magic materia would cause another small drop in his physical capablities but angry, fiery-natured magic users did like hurling fire around. Maybe it'd be worth it to give himself some protection against fire. Any other elements, though, he'd simply have to deal with.

He fancied his stamina already felt a little lower from the effect from all these materia. But then again, maybe it was just that this was happening too soon after his last battle. He cast his eye over the remaining materia in the case. Ah! That was what he needed. He took out the HP+ and slotted it in. He knew it would pretty much halve the damage to his general fitness that the materia would be causing and as it took effect he did feel a little better, and he was already feeling the benefits to his magical stamina from the presence of so many magic materia. He took a final look across the case and his eye rested on Poisona. He normally kept that for use against venomous animals but could Lancel cast poison? He himself should be resistant to poison but what about the others? Should he equip it?

Let's see what Kepler knows, he thought.

"What sorts of magic do you see this guy using? In other words, should I equip Poisona?"

What's the betting he doesn't use poison but does use Sleep or Silence, or something else I have no protection against, he couldn't help thinking as he asked.

As the group neared the central sphere, they passed several people attempting to quickly head in the opposite direction, albeit in an orderly fashion. After passing the people evacuating, they encountered a member of station security.

"Please evacuate with the rest of the civilians and staff. If anything or anyone you are looking for is still in the section it will be recovered shortly... Oh. Kepler. I have orders to let you and your group past, just be careful on your entry, things are getting rowdy in there."

Upon entering the sector, they were treated to a scene of devastation. The formerly green park was a shadow of it's former self, with craters and long scars and uprooted trees. The lighting had been reactivated, along with the artificial sky, though it fared no better, with long marring lines across it where the damage to the field creating the sky was damaged, showing the outer structure through the sky.

At the center of it all was the cause of the destruction, Lancel and the Bipedal Weapon Platform were in combat, it using sweeping plasma attacks attempting to hit the rapidly moving target, and launching missiles from it's spinal column, meanwhile, Lancel was attempting to hit the giant machine with anything he could, but being repulsed by a barrier surrounding it.------------

As Xander moved back to the bed, a screen revealed it's self on the wall, turning on to show a familiar scientist on it's surface.

"Miles Xander. Regarding the results of your test... It is rather unfortunate. With your abilities you showed such promise. However, once we placed you in a circumstance where you were required to do more than move, you blundered your way through our tests by sheer chance, being thrown to your destination in the resistance test, had to mount a mad scramble to the exit on the cat and mouse test, and the less said about the final test the better, beyond your nearly blowing up yourself and the room around you. Had you been required to work as part of a team, you'd have forced drastic action in an attempt to keep you safe, left them to their fate, and nearly killed them in said explosion. The one thing that appears to be your saving grace is that you appear tohave been born with a four leaf clover in your hand.

"Fortunately for you, the person I answer to considers that an applicable talent in our test subjects for further study. As it would happen, your good graces have presented you with yet another opportunity to prove your worth. A potential subject with even more power and less restraint when using it than yourself has escaped. Currently we are mounting operations to re-acquire him, and have sent other persons in your situation ahead to confront him. We are going to disconnect the room you are in and guide it to where we want it to go. We presently have two choices. we can guide it to where the others are fighting and you can make yourself useful, or we can set it adrift towards the nearest star. You'll starve to death before you get there, but at least we won't have to worry about the clean up."

Xander repressed a start as the screen revealed itself. He just had to get use to these things happening around him without the familiar surge of magic nearby to alert him to their impending happening, he told himself. He sat on the bed quietly, and waited for the scientist to finish talking.

Truely? You decide to put an old businessman through tests like these and expect a positive outcome? I'm no battlemage. He grumbled inwardly, but kept that to himself, he needed to keep his thoughts on task. A being with more power? That sounded interesting in and of itself. He was curious, and the fact that this 'subject' had managed to escape only added to his wonder. He should like to see this, he decided quickly.

This individual was clearly very dangerous, however. Those that operated this station had seemed so incredibly competent, and yet this one person was causing them a great deal of trouble. Though no small part of this was circumstance, he was sure, it still had to be said that anyone who could be this much of a problem to these people was someone that he had no interest in fighting against. That said, it was mentioned that there were indeed others in his own situation, and that was a curiosity all of its own. Added to that was the impending alternative... He didn't much expect his chances drifting towards a star to be any better than his odds backing up a team against this apparent monstrosity of a person. The choice made itself, really. He kept his expression serious as he regarded the face on the screen.

"I will be needing my cane, and my spellbooks. Alongside at least some information on this 'subject' of yours. Information on these other persons would also be helpful. You have observed my capacity for tackling obstacles unprepared, and found it lacking. Allow me to apply myself to this task whole-heartedly, with preparation, and I would wager that I could change your opinion. Sending me in to this, blind and feeble, would be just as useful as pointing this room towards that star."

"I will make sure your things are to be found at the station when you arrive. As for information, I can send what we know about the subject, but be aware we didn't get him to our examination room, so there will still be surprises. For your other compatriots our data is more complete, though some of it is conflicting. I'll take your requests as assent for the first option."

After the scientist spoke, Xander could feel his room buckle as it freed it'self from the building.

Xander merely nodded towards the scientist, and waited patiently as the screen began popping up with information about this subject. He looked through what was presented.

"So this 'Lancel' is an incredibly potent melee combatant. Practically a walking weapon. There are some from Burleigh who use arrays to enhance themselves in a similar manner, but it is generally frowned upon, and it certainly does not provide results like these... I see you have quite a lot of data, despite not putting him through that examination of yours, I'm impressed."

He spent another few minutes carefully digesting the information before asking to be shown the other 'subjects', which he sifted through in a similar manner.

"Quite the collection you have here." He muttered aloud after the last screen, he was quite curious about these 'pokemon' creatures, and the nature of the magics employed by the others. Kepler interested him, though more for his inclusion than anything particular about his data, in a similar way to Pamela. Why would these two be deployed into combat? They both seemed to him better suited to a supporting role away from the battlefield. "It does make me wonder what, precisely you have been planning to do with these people. Though I suppose that won't matter if we can't stop this stray centrepiece of yours."

He requested that the screen return to the start and began cycling through the information again, slowly working his way through potential plans and strategies as he waited out the rest of his journey.

Kepler, Pamela and Aran took a shuttle to their location. Kepler was acutely aware of Pamela and Aran doing their own preparations and digesting his rapidfire instructions at their own pace, which suited Kepler fine, since the whole idea of a cutting from one scene to another was pointless otherwise. Luckily, Aran's question came as they disembarked.

"What sorts of magic do you see this guy using? In other words, should I equip Poisona?"

James shrugged. "I don't know. Given the minute details that are beginning to snowball at this point, divergence should be expected in this fight from the one I know on an action-by-action scale. Does he have the ability?" Kepler paused for a moment, searching for the right way to explain. A group of evacuating personnel sidled past them as they came to a guard.

"Please evacuate with the rest of the civilians and staff. If anything or anyone you are looking for is still in the section it will be recovered shortly... Oh. Kepler. I have orders to let you and your group past, just be careful on your entry, things are getting rowdy in there."

Kepler smiled and offered M's trademark brief hand-to-the-chest-and-release salute in return. "Thank you. Make sure you stay safe as well. We aren't exactly the Queen's Finest--we'll be counting on your support if we fail. Nobody does anybody any good if they're dead." The guard blinked, momentarily taken off-guard by Kepler's atypical demeanour, but nodded. Kepler divided his attention between the ruined parkscape beyond and Aran again. "Anyways: yeah I'd say he has the ability, but not via the methodology you're anticipating. I don't know how exactly your Poisona alleviates the problem, but I do know that Lancel is not working with a venom or toxin to affect poison. He would more likely find a way to adapt directed radioactivity to degrade cellular structures. That would actually be a worst-case scenario, since I doubt your Life heal would be especially effective to combat the effects. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that materia super-stimulates and accelerates what is basically the body's natural ability to heal, right? If you try healing degraded or even mutated tissue...well...it would only generate more defective tissue. That would be bad. That'd be really bad." Kepler puckered as if he'd tasted a lemon. "Let's hope Lancel doesn't figure that one out." He looked out to the battlefield. "You know, I would feel bad about some of my programming options for that Bot if I didn't know I would have been shutdown in regards to come of my choices anyway."

=-=-=-=-=-=

Lancel was getting annoyed with the mechanical combatant the station personnel had set against him. It wasn't exactly a threat in and of itself, but he couldn't easily dispatch it either.

Well. That wasn't entirely true. He couldn't easily destroy it so long as he couldn't lay a fist on it or as long as his energy attacks were being defused. He actually could dispatch it, however. As they had been fighting, energy had been restored to the area, and Lancel had taken to deflecting the weapon platform's missile attacks to the ground, feeling out energy paths. To the station designer's credit, most of the park ground was actual ground--probably an asteroid anchor for the station--but there were powered facilities in the park, and eventually Lancel found what he was looking for, and chose to make his stand near the area, deflecting missile, after missile to the ground, blowing out huge chunks of ground to form a massive crater, exposing power and utilities. The robot, having been programmed by people who were not complete idiots, recognised the gambit and ceased rocket attacks, which, at this point in the battle it needed to begin conserving for more strategic use anyway.

The Bipedal Weapons Platform--BiWeP, as the instruction manuals referred to it, or Dave, as Kepler referred to it--switched to heavier and more defused plasma attacks. Lancel ignored them and picked up a nearby tree, swinging it like a club at Dave's legs. Taking the hit admirably, Dave quickly compensated for the impact and remained standing, but did not anticipate Lancel cancelling the plasmatic attack with a gamma burst, collapsing the plasma into a standing wave and charging directly at he robot, using its repulsing shield against it by simply overwhelming the kinetic diffusion, and forcing it to fall into the crater, directly atop the exposed utilities. Leaping back, Lancel thrust forward both hands and forced a magically shaped explosion to throw soil and rock over the crater, effectively burying half the crater Dave had been forced into. Leaping far to the side, Lancel repeated the process, soil erupting sloppily all over the..."park". The crater was now a much wider dip in the overall landscape, like a half formed sinkhole, and Dave was entirely buried.

Lancel calmed himself and brushed dirt and dust from his clothes before running a hand through his hair to shake it free of debris as well, confident in the knowledge that the Weapon's Platform could either stay where it was, with its shield up, slowly draining power--for how long he didn't care--or try and blast its way out, effectively damaging the entire area's power grid, or release the shield in some stupid attempt to dig out and simply be collapsed upon by a tonne of soil and people smashing the ground all around it as they fought.

Lancel leapt back with a shout of pain and the sudden searing, stumbling awkwardly out of the inferno and swatting himself in various locations to extinguish flames. Though it was not difficult to evacuate the immediate area the flames had erupted in, he was dismayed at being caught so easily off-guard, not to mention the area control his opponent was exerting and the prospect of them igniting other areas with equal simplicity. Looking around quickly, his eyes easily alighted on his desired target: the emergency fire extinguishing system. On the planet he had formerly called his home, they would have been simple, relatively uninterruptable pipes dispensing water, but he had a hunch that in a location as sophisticated as this one, with its advanced level of computer automation, wireless communication and synthetic resource availability, that it was more likely that these systems dispensed a synthetic agent to smother flames so as to not waste water in a closed environment, and could be disarmed at will. Still, it seemed unlikely that with his rampage in full swing that they would have pre-emptively disarmed emergency systems--that would be stupid.

Lancel flew himself up to the synthetic sky, and after a moment's study with his enhanced vision, punched through the currently-inactive sky-simulating surface and through to the infrastructure beneath, grabbing the emergency fire extinguishing channel and heating it with magically stimulated radiation. After a brief sputtering start, the system immediately began coating the entire room/area with fire-retardant foam.

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